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W. LAWRENCE.

CLOSED GONDUIT FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS. No. 516,631. Patented Mar. 13, 1894.

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(No Model.) I I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. W. LAWRENCE CLOSED GONDUIT FOR-BLEGTRIG BAILWAYSi No. 516,631. Patented Mar. 13,1894.

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UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE,

WILLIAM LAWRENCE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE LAWRENCE ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

CLOSED CONDUIT FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 516,631, dated March 13,1894.

Application filed May 2, 1893. $erial No. 472,767. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM LAWRENCE, a citizen of the United States, residing at -New York, in the county and State of New cent section; second, in supplying the said' sections with electricity from a continuous live wire which is insulated and incased within a suitable tubing or its equivalent, and third, in conveying the electricity from the said live wire into a suitable cut-out box from which it is delivered to the auxiliary wire as the car passes over the different sections. A suitable conveyor provided with grooved contact wheels is employed for conveying the current from the auxiliary wire to the current distributor of a car or other vehicle.

I will now proceed to describe my invention in detail, referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of my invention showing the'current conveyor in full lines and taken on a line a; 00 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on line y y of Fig. 1. .Fig. 3 is a side elevation in detail showing one form of securing the insulated material to the auxiliary wire.

A indicates a suitable main wire or conductor which is insulated and incased within a suitable tubing A, or its equivalent. In the example shown the wire A is located in or contiguous to an underground conduit A The insulation A is broken at given points as seen at a in Fig. 1; and a wire a is connected with said live wire and leads to the contact points a" in a cut-out box B, the box B being shown within the conduit A The mechanism contained in the cut-out box B consists of a weighted lever 17 preferably fulcrumed as at b, and having contact points 1) adapted to be brought into engagement with the contacts a" as in Fig. 1. Pivoted to the lover I) is a vertical rod 0, upon the outer end of which is a support d upon which is secured the sectional live wire C located within the conduitA A suitable stuffing box g is provided at the upper end of box B around rod 0.

The current conveyor D, which is connected with a suitable current distributor on a car (not shown) bears by means of its grooved contact wheels e upon the sectional wire C, the contact wheels e in traveling along causing said wire to be slightlydepressed, or moved laterally; this movement of the wire giving a suitable movement to the contacts b by means of the rod 0, whereby connection is made between the main wire A and the sectional wire C at the contact a, b". It will be seen by the drawings that the circuit is broken at the end of each section of the wire C, the several sections of wire C being connected by suit able insulation D.

It will be understood that the main live wire A is at all times thoroughly insulated, and that the auxiliary wire C only receives the current while the car is passing over a certain section, the current of electricity being confined at that time to that section, and while the current conveyor D is actually in contact with that section. This arrangement affords security against the escape of the cur- 8 5 rent from the main wire A, whereby danger of the current becoming grounded and passing to the surface of the street is overcome.

By my invention only one section of wire D will be charged with electricity'at one time, excepting momentarily while the conveyor is passing over the insulation D and when its forward contact wheel is alone upon the adj acent section of wire, when these two sections will both be charged with electricity. By the 5 means just described I avoid the dangerous sparking which would ensue if only one contact wheel were used, by the action of such single contact wheel passing from one section to the other. The conveyor D depresses only that section of the wire upon which it is bearing at any time, and as soon as it has left such tact, a weighted lever carrying the movable part of the contact, a sectional working con 15 ductor, a rod connecting the moving conductor with the weighted lever, and a water tight casing inclosing the contacts and lover, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in 20 presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM LAWRENCE.

Witnesses:

MARK M. DECKER, E. E. MEAREs. 

